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Obama Favored By Superdelegates Math

Senator Barack Obama now leads Clinton 1,727 to 1,589 in total delegates. Clinton leads Obama 258 to 236 in superdelegates. This means that since the campaign started, Clinton has added only 58 superdelegates to Obamaâ€™s 236.

[Elections 2008: Superdelegates Math]

When the presidential primaries started this year, Hillary Clinton had already amassed 200 superdelegates, mostly party hacks who owed favors to her husband former president Bill Clinton.

Senator Barack Obama now leads Clinton 1,727 to 1,589 in total delegates. Clinton leads Obama 258 to 236 in superdelegates. This means that since the campaign started, Clinton has added only 58 superdelegates to Obama’s 236.

Separately, elected Superdelegates have thrown their support behind Senator Barack Obama while Clinton gets most of the support of the unelected party hacks, The Wall Street Journal reports in today’s edition.

There are 795 superdelegates. Some are governors, senators, mayors, house members, and other elected officials, while the others are unelected party and DNC officials.

If Obama does well in the North Carolina and Indiana polls, the Journal reports, “enough elected Democrats are expected to back Sen. Obama after the last primaries June 3 to give him the delegate majority needed for nomination.”

“Many of them see Sen. Obama as more electable than Sen. Clinton,” the Journal reports. “But even those who don’t have been impressed by his grass-roots organizing and fund raising and the legions of new voters he has attracted particularly younger and African-American voters.”

“By contrast, many see Sen. Clinton’s alienating some general-election voters,” the Journal reports, also quoting a Democratic strategist to congressional candidates who’s not affiliated with either candidate saying “all think Obama will stimulate African American turnout, and they all know there’s no way she gets independents or Republicans,” referring to Clinton.

Many superdelegates also back Obama because his campaign has announced a 50-state voter mobilization. “Obama has made it absolutely clear he’s committed to a 50-state strategy, and the Clintons obviously aren’t,” Steve Achepohl, Nebraska party chairman and Obama supporter, told the Journal. “That’s a major factor for all the party people in smaller states,” he said.

“Many superdelegates increasingly seem to share the view that ultimately they should support the candidate with the most pledged delegates. Almost certainly that will be Obama,” reports the Journal.

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